My journey to eating clean started ten years ago when I was suffering from numerous health issues and throughout the last ten years I have learned how to heal my body from a range of symptoms and diagnoses from Lyme disease to Hypothyroidism and C.Diff colitis. I started my website, TheHealthyApple.com to help people suffering from everyday minor symptoms such as a headache to ailments and chronic illness; my hope is that my new book helps change lives and gives people hope that they can get to the root cause of their illness and find the light at the end of the tunnel. Something I learned, that no doctor ever told me (and I’ve been to over 500 doctors) is the fact is that nothing changed until I started to clean up my food and my environment (personal care products, cleaning products and beauty products) because our skin is our biggest organ- so it’s important to look not just at what we are putting in our bodies but also what we are putting on our bodies, as well. I also realized that I had to put my health in my own hands and be my own doctor to navigate through the world from illness to wellness and vitality!

In my new cookbook, Eating Clean: The 21-Day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation, and Reset Your Body, Italk about how to start cleaning up your food and your life from chemicals and toxins that are in our everyday lifestyles from our food to our cleaning products. Detox is not what you think. In this book I outline what you need to do to detox your body on a daily basis and how to eat clean to support your overall health. I want to show you that eating clean feels amazing- not because you should, but because once you see life this way, you’ll never go back. There’s not a processed piece of candy I’d eat to give up for how incredible I feel. If more people realized what an important role they plan in their own health, they could change the quality of their life forever.

This cookbook is filled with over 200 plant-based recipes that are free of gluten, dairy, soy, refined sugar, eggs, white flours and processed ingredients. No xantan gum, no binders, no fake ingredients- all pure, whole foods. And you’re going to love every single recipe! Continue reading →

One of the nice things about temperatures finally coming down and scarves coming out is that we can finally drink ALL THE COFFEE WE WANT WITHOUT SWEATING IN OUR LIVING ROOM. Not that it ever stopped us before. Trolling Pinterest, we found some amazing recipes you might want to try in your own home this fall:

My lifestyle is all about clean eating; enjoying fresh, whole and organic foods – not processed foods with ingredients you can’t pronounce. It’s about eating what makes you feel good. It’s not about eating bowls of kale every day because you’ve heard it’s good for you. And it’s not about being skinny. That’s not what being healthy is about. Being healthy IS about balance and happiness. I don’t put a label on myself; I’m not vegan or vegetarian or paleo. I eat what my body wants and what feels good, obviously steering clear of processed foods and incorporating lots of healthy fats in every meal along with protein and fiber. I eat clean because of my chronic health story and because my body reacts severely if I accidentally eat foods that don’t agree with me such as gluten, dairy, sugar and soy. When I removed these foods and starting eating organic, I felt amazing. It’s incredible what happens and how your perspective on life changes when you go through such a traumatic health experience alone. Eating clean can be very simple and it can be done with just a few minor changes. Continue reading →

Whether it’s the pressure of bathing suit season or all the beautiful tropical fruits out at the grocery store right now, we like to think of this as Smoothie Season! Strawberries, bananas and some ice cubes will get you there but why stop with the basics when the internet has so much more adventurous recipes to offer? Here are some of our favorite smoothies on the internet today! Continue reading →

The potato often gets a bad rap because they are commonly fried or loaded with fat and calories from butter and sour cream. It turns out, potatoes are fat-free and cholesterol-free, a good source of fiber and Vitamin C, plus they contains less than 10% of your daily value of carbohydrates. That’s a pretty healthy food!

Baked potatoes can be the foundation for a great family dinner by creating a baked potato bar! Similar to a taco bar, a baked potato bar offers every family member a chance to make their own meal. Instead of copying the Mexican Taco bar flavors, we decided to change up the flavor and go with Mediterranean-inspired flavors. Continue reading →

We’re entering the holiday season where we’ll be sitting down to meal after meal with family and friends. In preparation, we shared about the 21 Day Meditation Challenge to help get your head and heart ready. We also have something that will help get your body ready!

We at Intent.com have long been big fans of Tara Stiles and all she does for fitness and healthy living. Now, we’re excited to share about her new book “Make Your Own Rules Diet”.

My family is Italian. In an Italian house, all good life lessons always involve food. Here is one.

Life is truly like pasta because no matter how you serve it, it is always good. But with a little information about the shape of the pasta (what makes it unique) and the sauce that fits it, it can change the dish from good to great. This requires a quick pasta lesson:

Pasta is a “carrier” – the shape of the pasta is used to deliver, appreciate and celebrate its sauce. There are 9 types of pasta – short/long, smooth/lined, flat/round, straight/cupped, or filled. Pasta – good. Pasta with the right sauce – great.

So think of it this way:

• Smooth pasta works best with sauces like oil or butter – something to coat the pasta – think pesto.

• Pasta with lines (“rigate” in Italian) works best with wet sauces because the lines hold the sauce – think marinara, Bolognese, vegetable or meat sauces.

• Pasta with cup, scoop or tube shapes works best with creamy sauces – to scoop the sauce with each bite – think alfredo or any cheese sauces.

• Filled pasta – ravioli, totellini, angelotti – works best with light sauces to be able to taste the amazing filling.

Think about the American favorite – spaghetti with meat sauce. A meat or tomato sauce does not stick to a slick, long and thin, slippery pasta. The result is when you finish the pasta, the sauce is still in the bowl. Unforgivable for an Italian! (Suggestion: if you love meat or tomato sauce, use a lined ziti, penne, mostaccioli or rigatoni – you’ll enjoy the sauce and the pasta together.) With this little bit of information, we can now better match the sauce with the pasta and go from good to great.

It is the same in life. We are each like a unique shape of pasta; we are good in some situations but great in others. We first have to know our shape – our unique abilities – our talents, strengths and passions. Knowing this, along with knowing our world, we start to find ways to connect what is best in us with our world. We find work and life situations that fit us. We find and do our “thing.” We feel capable, competent, happy and courageous. We move from good to great. We are like the correct matching of the right shape of pasta with the right sauce. Everything is better.

I think of this every time I stand before the 30 or so shapes of pasta at the grocery store. When I look at the boxes of pasta, I see opportunities in each shape – to match them to what sauce works best for them. I see the same when I look at people in my seminars or programs, or those I coach – each is unique and able to create something amazing when they learn how to build their world around what makes them unique – how to connect their lives (sauces) to their unique abilities (shapes).

The more we know and appreciate what makes us unique, the more I am reminded of what my mother told us as she taught my five siblings and me how to cook, “When you know your ingredients, you can always make something great.” Know your ingredients – your talents, strengths and passions – then select the things in life that need your amazing (and unique) ingredients. This is how to go from good to great in the kitchen, and in life.

One of my favorite pasta recipes: Ziti with Spinach and Olives

In a large sauté pan, sauté a finally chopped onion, pancetta (or smoky bacon) and crushed red pepper in olive oil. When cooked, add black and green olives (I’m Italian – I don’t measure things; we go by look and feel. Add as many olives as you like). In a separate pot, cook ziti (smooth, no lines; this is an oil-based sauce). Drain ziti and add to it to the pan with onion, pancetta and olives, and return it to the (low) heat. Add a handful of fresh gently chopped spinach for each person being served and stir until the spinach is wilted and the ingredients are blended. Pour into a large warmed pasta bowl to be set in the middle of the table. Top with fresh ground black pepper and freshly-grated parmesan cheese. Total time – about 12 minutes. Swap out the spinach for swiss chard, beet greens, arugula, kale or whatever is fresh. Serve with a salad. Tutti a tavola!

As a self-proclaimed and nerd and person of the internet there are three days of the year that make my soul so so happy. There’s May 4, or “May the Fourth” – as in May the Force Be With You. Then there’s October 3 because any self-respecting person that’s seen Mean Girls knows “On October 3, he asked me what day it is. It’s October 3.” (It makes more sense in the context of the movie…) But the of these in the calendar year is today – 3.14 – Pi Day.

I went to a nerd magnet school for my last two years of high school. Our rally chant at school sporting events (or mathlete tournaments) was the following: “Secant, tangent, cosin, sin / 3.14159 / Physics, Bio, Polymer Chem / Give ’em hell / Go S&M.” First of all, yes we stole it from MIT, shh. Secondly, it was the North Carolina School of Science and Math, hence the S&M. It wasn’t some weird sexual thing, in case you were worried. Back then I thought that I was going to grow up to be some sort of mathematician (What do people who major in math actually do when they grow up? NASA?). I did Calculus homework as stress relief. Before graduation I realized that my real talents lay in creative fields, but the nerd alert alarms within me sound off on special occasions. Pi day is one of those occasions.

The best part of Pi day is not just celebrating one of the best irrational numbers around – it’s about dessert. Oh, that’s right. What better use of Pi than to figure out the area of a delicious berry filled pastry from heaven? To help you celebrate and indulge your sweet tooth we’ve rounded up some of the best pie recipes from around the web. Treat yourself today!

The Food Network Pie Recipe Collection – Obviously, the best channel on television. Of course they’d have an entire selection of pie recipes ready for your perusal – from apple to coconut to chocolate swirl. There’s something here for everyone’s pastry preferences.

Country Living’s Favorite Pies – Since I’m from the south I can’t imagine any doctor’s office or waiting room that didn’t have a copy of Country Loving. After looking through these I can tell you I already started drooling over their pecan (pronounced pee-can if you want to get in the spirit) pie recipe.

Martha Stewart’s 25 Perfect Pies – Maybe you prefer an artisan approach to your pie making. I can dig it. Let’s turn to the mother of all things beautiful and domestic then – Martha Stewart. Just the names of some of these give me shivers of delight. Triple chocolate pumpkin pie? Count. me. in.

Huffington Post American Author Pies – The Huffington Post won my heart when they combined their own celebration of Pi day with classic American authors. My math nerd with my book nerd self can celebrate as one! From Jack Kerouac apple pie to Mark Twain’s Huckleberry pie – American literature has never sounded so delicious!

Mental Floss 10 Pies for Pi Day – Leave it to the folks at Mental Floss to create the list of nerdiest pies. The digits apple pie looks way too impressive to eat but I think I could take out those mini pi-pies in just one bite. If you’re good at carving apples and want to take your Pi day love to the next level then this is definitely the list for you.

Are there any “nerd” days of the year that get you excited? How do you celebrate them? And if you plan to make a pie today be sure to tell us which ones in the comments below!

My mom grew up in a small village 45 minutes south of London. Having a British mom has awarded me a lot of things in life that a lot of kids never get to have – true English Christmases, the ability to fake an accent better than anyone I know and getting the inside jokes on Downton Abbey. My favorite thing about being a half-brit though is yorkshire pudding.

It’s a running joke in our family that there are so many things to love about England, but food isn’t really one of them – outside of fish ‘n’ chips of course (and I don’t eat anything that comes out of the ocean – so bust.) I mean, would you be willing to be try a plate of spotted dick (that’s a real thing. Least appetizing dessert name ever)? Or maybe some steak and kidney pie? Didn’t think so. However, there is one delicious morsel usually reserved for Sunday roast dinners that make hearts appear in my eyes and the kickstart automatic drooling. Contrary to the name, yorkshire pudding are more like bread rolls and muffins had a baby than American pudding. As I said, they work as a side dish with a bit of gravy for roast dinners or can be eaten with jam for a light dessert.

Whenever I had a rough day at school or wasn’t feeling well my mom would whip up a batch of these delicious morsels to go with dinner and it was always the best surprise. As I’ve been trying to experiment more in the kitchen I decided to try them out for myself. Luckily, they are the simplest thing in the world to make! So get out your union jacks, put Monty Python in the DVD player and get in touch with your Brit side with this easy Yorkshire Pudding recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk (It also works with water instead if trying to cut down on fat, but milk makes them fluffier)

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

Cupcake pan

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 450˚F

Mix together flour, salt, milk/water, butter and eggs in medium mixing bowl until mixture is cohesive with no bumps

Pour mix into cupcake pan, filling each well about halfway (they rise a lot so be careful).

Place in the oven for 10 minutes (or until golden brown)

The recipe makes about 12 medium yorkshires so prepare accordingly. I was so

There are so many things to love about winter: soft, fluffy scarves to bundle up in, holidays to celebrate with loved ones, and of course all the many traditional dishes filled with hearty ingredients and warm spices.

The ingredient that personifies this time of year more than any other for me is ginger. It’s a spicy spice in the best kind of way one that warms you from the inside out. It works in everything from a Thanksgiving cranberry chutney recipe to a simple herbal tea. And ginger is not just about flavor and spice, it’s also one of the most well studied herbs in botanical medicine, with an impressive body of research to support its use for a variety of health conditions including improvement in muscle and joint pain, nausea due to pregnancy or chemotherapy and a variety of other conditions where inflammation plays a role (which is almost everything).

Fun fact: Dried ginger is ten times more healing than fresh

Here are a couple recipes with ginger that I love to make this time of year:

Simple Ginger Tea

I make this tea when I’m feeling cold and a bit lazy. It leaves me feeling instantly warm and healthy.

Thoroughly wash a chunk of fresh ginger rhizome (root) and use a carrot grater to remove the outer skin

Slice lengthwise into two or three thick pieces and add one to two slices to a cup of very hot water or tea (green or raspberry leaf are some of my favorite choices)

Steep for 3-4 minutes and enjoy

Superfood Muesli

I’ve modified this recipe from one I was introduced to while in naturopathic medical school. I love it because you can make a big batch that will last for weeks and it’s fun to get creative with different spices and ingredients. Although this dish can be eaten warm or cold, I like to warm it up in the winter for a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast that provides excellent whole-food nutrition and energy.

Combine all ingredients, mix well and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. To make a single serving, scoop a ½ cup into a bowl and add 1 cup liquid (e.g. water, nut milk or dairy milk are all good options). Soak overnight and then heat in microwave in the morning or, to prepare right away, heat in a saucepan until grains are soft and ingredients have absorbed all the liquid.